Mescalero activist says he's being stonewalled

Mescalero Apache officials are trying to avoid a direct response to a request for a distribution of a federal settlement to tribal members by misinterpreting the intent of petitions circulating on the reservation, says activist Joseph Geronimo.

The petitions ask that lump sum allocations be distributed to the 4,788 members from a $32.8 million settlement with the federal government as part of a $1 billion case brought by 41 tribes against government agencies for mismanagement of resources and lands held in trust.

But a letter delivered to Geronimo Oct. 30, from Tribal Secretary Alfred La Paz refers to the document circulated as a "petition for a referendum." He wrote that the petition "does not request a specific matter be submitted to the electorate for a referendum vote in a general election."

Geronimo wrote back that under the Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968, tribal members are guaranteed the right to petition for redress of grievances. Nothing limits that petition to a call for a referendum. He also contended that an ordinance referenced by La Paz is unconstitutional.

La Paz wrote that the ordinance requires any individual seeking to circulate a petition to first file a notice of intent with the tribal secretary. The notice must include a brief clear statement of the reason for the referendum. Without notice of intent, the proposed petition Geronimo submitted does not comply with the ordinance requirements and the tribal secretary, "is not permitted to process of endorse the petition," La Paz wrote.

Advertisement

Geronimo responded to La Paz, pointing out that a referendum was not being requested and that petitions were not restricted to that use. He wrote that the Indian constitution was violated by passage of the ordinance in Mescalero, "which is restrictive and promotes tyranny by the tribal government with the approval of the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs."

Geronimo is calling for an accounting of any money spent from the settlement and a $5,000 per member distribution immediately, with any excess going to a scholarship fund.

Requests for comment from tribal government officials were unsuccessful.